Lane and Zach: Take it or Leave it
by HNfan1992
Summary: What would've happened in Episode 5.16 when Zach wanted to sleep with Lane when he cooked dinner for her and Mrs Kim hadn't gotten into Lane's head? Two parter. Rated M just in case although will probably be suitable for T.
1. Part One

**TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT** – _A Gilmore Girls Fanfic_. What if Lane hadn't told Zach she couldn't have sex till she was married when he made her that dinner? Would it have happened? What would the consequences have been? Lane/Zach two-parter. Please read and review, it makes my day.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Lane, Zach or anything to do with GG. It is all the work of the great ASP, not, unfortunately, me. My stories are just made for my own amusement. Although, to give ASP credit, I have borrowed dialogue from episode 5.16, So...Good Talk?

**Part One**

Lane and Rory sat in Andrew's bookstore, discussing Luke's current bad mood. Since the break-up with Lorelai he'd been burning the food, yelling at the customers and even throwing some of them out of the door. Lane was annoyed as she needed the tip money.

Rory asked her if she wanted to go over to Al's to get lunch.

"Can't. If Luke's left alone too long he might burn the place down."

Rory shook her hair. "Well, how about tonight? You wanna do something?"

Lane grinned. "I would love to, but Zach is cooking me dinner," she said. Every time she thought about him, a smile came to her face. She couldn't believe how much he'd changed in the last few months, turning from 'dating hot chicks' guy to 'cooking dinner for his steady girlfriend' guy. He was so sweet, as perfect a boyfriend as a girl could ask for. Lane hoped he felt as strongly about her as she did about him.

Rory's exclamation broke into her thoughts. "Really? Oh, that's so sweet!"

"It is, isn't it?"

Rory smiled. "It's so nice that you have Zach."

Lane thought about Luke and his singleness. What would she be like if Zach were to break up with her? "I know," she said. "It's like having a perfect haircut every single day."

"My God, that is beautiful," said Rory, happy for her friend. Lane and Zach had really found each other.

Lane nodded. "I'll call you later."

"Thanks for the concept of lunch," said Rory.

Lane got up to go. "Anytime." She left the bookstore and her best friend and made her way back to the diner. Hopefully Luke would've managed to keep a couple of customers for her to serve.

**Later...**

Lane and Zach sat on their living room floor, a small table in between them. Zach, true to his word, had cooked dinner for Lane and it had been delicious. And so romantic, thought Lane. Who would've known, that under this macho, matter-of-fact skin could lurk such a kind guy? She couldn't believe how cute he was being.

Zach lifted the Pepsi bottle up and made to pour it for her. "More bubbly, my dear?" he asked.

Lane smiled. "Please."

"I opened the bottle this afternoon so it's just the way you like it, naaice and flat."

Lane grinned. "You're very sweet. This whole thing was so _sweet_, Zach, cooking me dinner?"

Zach shrugged. "It was fun."

"And the sauce was amazing."

"My own creation. Ragu, with garlic salt, Kayan pepper and a dash of masabi." Zach looked proud with himself.

Lane nodded. "It made my ears pop."

Zach gave a knowing look. "One of the benefits."

Lane couldn't stop complimenting him. "The spaghetti was just right, too."

"I threw some up against the wall to tell if it was done. Made a shape like Peter Gabriel's big bloated head. It's over there if you wanna see it."

Lane got up hurriedly. "Yeah, cool."

Zach stopped her by grabbing her arm. "But not now, 'kay? Later."

He pulled Lane down beside him and smiled at her. Lane nodded. "Sure."

Zach kissed her hand. "You're the best, you know?" He trailed kisses up her arm. "The coolest, the cutest-"

Lane grinned. "Aw, thanks. Back atcha."

Zach moved towards her. "I liked you the day I met you. I even remember what you were wearing."

Lane sighed in embarrassment. "Oh God, I probably looked like a pig. I need more clothes."

Zach looked her in the eyes. "I want this to be right, you know?"

Lane didn't realise what he meant. "Yeah, absolutely."

"The music's good for you?"

"Sure."

Zach kissed Lane and she responded happily. When they broke apart she smiled at him romantically. "That was nice."

"Yeah, it was."

They kissed again and Lane let it deepen before pulling away. "We should probably clear the plates, right?"

Zach woke up a bit then. "What?"

Lane had her sensible head on. "Just to get them soaking."

Zach panicked. His moment was getting ruined. "No!... Later," he said.

Lane stared at him and he expanded. "After."

She smiled sweetly. He was so romantic. "Okay," she said in agreement. Then another thought struck her. "After what?"

Zach didn't say what he meant out loud. "Just... after."

Lane nodded. "Right." She leant in and they started kissing. "After," she murmured. Zach echoed it. "After."

Zach let his tongue slide into her mouth and Lane stroked his chest through his shirt, totally immersed in the kissing. After a few moments they stood up, still attached and began to move towards Lane's bedroom.

"Lane?" asked Zach, breathing heavily in between kisses.

"What?" asked Lane, desperate to feel his mouth on hers again.

"I love you." He kissed her harder and she moaned in response. "I love you too," she whispered.

Before Lane knew it they were in her bedroom, sitting on her bed. As Zach started to undo her cardigan buttons she suddenly realised where the signs were pointing. He'd cooked her dinner – he never cooked. Hell, he'd even lit candles. And she'd noticed what looked like a trail of rose petals lining the doorway to the bedroom. He wanted to have sex with her.

"Oh my God, you wanna have sex!" she said.

Zach nodded. "Yeah."

Lane knew they should stop but she couldn't. She had to have Zach on her mouth, on her, right then. So she let him carry on.

Zach's shirt was off and Lane's cardigan hung loosely off her shoulders. She could feel his soft, warm hands on her tummy and she murmured to him. It felt so nice.

"Yoo hoo! I'm home!" came Brian's voice as he let himself into the flat.

Lane and Zach emerged, startled. "Shoot!" said Lane. Zach stared at her then realised that Lane's door was open and Brian was about to find them like that. He hastily jumped up and took his shirt behind the door, quickly fastened the buttons then stepped out to take care of Brian.

Lane was in shock. What had happened there? She had nearly slept with Zach. How could it have happened? Who was she kidding. She couldn't sleep with him. They weren't even engaged, let alone married, and it was an unspoken Korean _rule_ that all girls must be married virgins. That was a close shave.

She heard Zach and Brian's raised voices outside her door.

"What are you talking about, Dude, you said you wouldn't be back until tomorrow. I thought you were staying at your parents' house tonight."

"Well, I changed my mind. Why, am I not allowed to come into my own house?"

"You ruined it..."

Lane felt close to tears. In one night she had destroyed everything she had with Zach. Why did she let him get that far? She'd known it was wrong.

There was a knock at the door and Zach came in slowly.

"Sorry about that, Lane. Brian's gone now. Shall we pick up where we left off?" He stroked her hair then kissed her hard.

Lane pushed him off. "Are you serious? No, Zach, no! God, I- you knew I can't have sex with you and you still had to try it on! God, I just – I just can't deal with you right now. I can't." She ran out of the house, sobbing and headed in the direction of her mother's. It looked like she'd be back there again, probably for the rest of her life. It wasn't like she'd be able to live with Zach again.

As she pushed open the door she breathed in the smell of Tofu and wood polish that she was so used to. Her mother heard something and came out into the front of the shop.

Lane snapped when she saw her. "I hate you and your stupid Korea!" she yelled and ran up into her room. Her mother shrugged and went back to the kitchen.

Lane lay down on her bed and cried herself to sleep. And during that night she had a dream about marrying Zach and then him divorcing her because she wouldn't sleep with him on their honeymoon. I t was going to be hard to adjust to a Zach-less life.

-**END OF PART ONE-**


	2. Part Two

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Lane, Zach or anything to do with GG. It is all the work of the great ASP, not, unfortunately, me. My stories are just made for my own amusement. Although, to give ASP credit, I have borrowed dialogue from episode 5.16, So...Good Talk?

**Part Two**

It was lunchtime at Luke's but the place was nearly empty. Luke was off form with his cooking, which was rubbing off on Caesar, and all the customers were scared of Luke. Lane had been miserable for the last week, ever since breaking up with Zach, and a few snappy comments had helped to clear the diner out a little too.

As another customer returned their food Lane finally snapped. "You ordered it, you eat it!" she cried. The couple looked at her strangely then threw a 10 bill onto the table and hurried out of the diner as fast as they could. Lane glared at the their retreating backs and banged the returned food down in front of Kirk, who was stuffing it all into that place inside him. Lane felt sick just looking at him.

"Luke! I'm taking my 10!" she called and hurried out of the place. Hopefully Rory would still be around. She really needed something to take her mind off Zach.

**Later**...

Zach, Brian and Gil were in the living room of the apartment, waiting for their new drummer to arrive. They'd auditioned him two days ago and although he wasn't a patch on Lane Brian and Gil thought he was great so Zach had gone along with it. After all, if he argued with them he'd have nothing left.

He still couldn't believe she was gone. Everything had been going so well and then, suddenly, it had vanished. He didn't even know what he was supposed to have done. One minute they were happy, Lane was even pushing him further, then she suddenly decided she didn't want it? He didn't know what to do. So he left it.

Stan arrived and they set up, ready to play. Zach couldn't help noticing how Stan took up a lot more space than Lane with his drum set.

Gil tuned up his guitar. "Alright! Now, welcome to the band, Stan, and let's start with _Rachel_. Okay, one two three four!"

They began to play and Zach nodded along, keeping up a steady rhythm on his guitar. It wasn't too bad once he forgot about Lane...

Who was he kidding? Stan was so – straight. Perfectly on the beat. And he had an annoying twitch. God, could he really not go to a doctor or something? And Zach could hardly move because Stan was taking up so much space.

'_I touched her face...'_ The song lyrics washed over Zach and he tried to concentrate. He could make this work, right?

'_But she was gone...'_ Now he was really bugging Zach.

'_I thought I loved her...'_ That was the final straw. Zach stopped playing and put his guitar down. When they saw him the others all stopped playing.

"Don't stop!" said Brian. "That wasn't half bad."

Zach scowled. "I don't care, dude. It won't be right without Lane. Ever." He turned to Stan. "And Dude, you gotta see a doctor about that twitch. And the way you play, you can forget about ever coming back again." He stormed out of the room.

Brian looked surprised. "Zach!" But Zach was already gone.

Gil looked at Stan. "Lane will be back. Don't take it personally. Bye now."

A few minutes later...

Zach hurried towards Luke's and pushed the door open. Lane was taking a couple of teenagers' orders and he hovered behind her, waiting for her to finish.

Lane turned around to take the order and bumped into Zach. She stared at him for a moment.

"Hi," he said.

Lane shook herself. "I'm busy, Zach."

"I know but I really need to talk to you."

"Well, you'll have to wait," said Lane. "And it will be at least two hours and Luke won't let you sit down if you don't order anything. And even after two hours I still have to help clear up. So just go away, Zach."

Zach hunched his shoulders up. "Lane?"

She wanted to look at him but she forced herself not to. "_What_."

"Please, I really need to talk to you. Can you come round later?"

Lane sighed. "Okay. Now go."

Zach left the diner, feeling a little better. He just hoped she'd show up.

**Later...**

Zach paced around the apartment nervously, swinging his arms and nodding his head. He'd got rid of Brian so it would be just him and Lane and he was hoping to persuade her to move back in, rejoin the band and hopefully he could resolve things with their relationship as well. He missed her so much. Even just seeing her at Luke's for 30 seconds made him feel better than he had all week. And that was when she was being cold with him.

A knock at the door made him jump nervously. Bracing himself, he opened the door and there she was, as beautiful as ever.

Lane looked at him, hands in her pockets. "Hello, Zach!" she said sarcastically.

Zach gestured into the living room. "Do you wanna come and sit down?"

"Sure." God, he's so sweet, thought Lane, I can't believe I mucked everything up. She took her jacket off and sat down on the couch. "You wanted to talk?"

Zach nodded. "Yeah." He paused and Lane stared. "So..."

Zach shook himself. "Oh right. Talk. Yeah." He thought. "I'm really sorry for pushing you. You seemed into it so I thought, cool, but you weren't and I'm really sorry. I miss you. Please come back. I totally can't live with that Stan dude drumming for us. You're way better than him. Please?"

Lane sighed. "I'm sorry too. It's my fault. I should have stopped you sooner. And I shouldn't have freaked out the way I did. I mean, it's sex. It's not that big a deal, right?"

They stared at each other for a moment, both glad it had all been resolved. Then Zach broke the silence.

"Lane?" he said. "I love you."

Lane smiled. "I love you too."

"Come here."

Lane shuffled over to the other side of the couch and Zach took hold of her hands. Then they kissed.

Lane could only feel his mouth on hers, his hands on her back. Standing up, still kissing him, she began to lead him towards the bedroom.

"Lane," whispered. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"

Lane nodded, giving him another kiss. "I'm sure."

They reached the bedroom and began to undress each other. Lane couldn't help noticing that even though she'd seen him without a shirt before he looked so much better when she had him, so intimately like that. When they were down to their underwear Zach pulled her down onto the bed and kissed her stomach. Lane moaned in anticipation.

"Zach," she said.

He licked her belly button then looked up. "Do you wanna stop?" he asked.

"No!" said Lane. She pulled his head to hers and they began kissing again, enjoying the feel of each others' tongues again. It had been a long week.

Zach gently undid Lane's bra and she shook it off, desperate to feel Zach's skin against hers. Then she carefully fondled Zach, first outside the boxers then inside. Eventually their underwear came off too and soon Lane was riding the waves of desire. All she could think about was Zach, the way he felt, the way he kissed and the feel of him inside her. He started to moan and she imitated him, calling his name. She'd never felt so good before and this felt totally right.

When it was over they lay side by side, staring at each other. Zach kissed her shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Lane grinned. "Never better," she said.

Zach nodded, relieved. "That was..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, me too," said Lane. They kissed for a moment then Zach reached down and pulled something out of his jean's pocket. This was it. His Moment.

When Lane saw the small box in his hand. She gasped. "Zach?"

Zach looked her in the eyes. "I love you, Lane Kim, and this last week I've realised that I can't live without you. I want to grow old with you. I want to play in the band with you and I want to have you with me, all the time." He paused. "Lane, will you marry me?"

Lane smiled. "Yes Zach, I will."

Zach fitted the ring onto her finger. They kissed again then fell silent, encircled in each others' arms, and Lane knew that this was it. The one person she wanted to spend her life with was right there with her. They never had to spend time apart again. And the best thing was, he felt the same way about her.

She fingered her ring and it began to sink in. She was getting married. To Zach.

**THE END**


End file.
